Q&A Preview: England vs Korea at the U-20 World Cup ft. K League United

Ahead of the U20 World Cup final group game between England and South Korea, we decided to hold a Writer’s Chat (two-way Q&A) with Englishman and K League United contributor Scott Whitelock!

Scott asks, I answer about Korea

Korea have made a flying start to this tournament and have already qualified for the knockout stages with a game to spare. How would you rate the teams performances so far and have they produced the type of football you would have expected pre-tournament?

A flying start indeed, certainly in terms of the results the team has been able to get. The team’s performance has been good, though not perfect, and there are several discernible weaknesses that have been swept under the rug in light of some moments of brilliance. I strongly doubt anyone is calculating pass completion rate for this kind of tournament, but you don’t need that to notice that the Koreans are far from being the accomplished, passing, flowing-attack side we saw under Shin Taeyong at the Rio Olympics. They generally try to play three kind of passes – backpasses/lateral passes in defense, long balls from the centrebacks in behind space for the attackers and penetrative throughballs from deep. The success rates aren’t obviously very high.

More worryingly, Lee Sangheon has failed to impose himself as an adequate distributor alongside Lee Jinhyeon, so I think this game will be the opportunity for squad captain Han Chanhee or FC Seoul startlet Lim Minhyeok to prove they can control a game’s tempo. It’s one thing to have 10 seconds of brilliance from the Barca Boys to get you two/three goals, but it’s another to be able to control the play. England sound like a very good test as to whether or not the Koreans are able to do that.

Pre-tournament expectations have been met, at least so far, and the Barca Boys have looked impressive. That being said, Paik wasn’t on his best against Argentina while Lee Seungwoo vanished for large swathes of the game against Guinea, so both seem to be still getting a feel for the team and vice-versa. They’re clearly on a higher level and it’s all about whether or not they can lift the team’s collective performance upwards in the games to come.

2. The standout performers so far have been the big name talents from Barcelona, Paik Seung-ho and Lee Seung-woo. Outside of these two players, who are the other key players in the squad and how have they performed thus far?

Cho Youngwook completes the attacking trident between Lee and Paik and so far the Koryo University forward has shown why he is the man for the job. On top of his high work rate (like most prototypical Korean forwards of his mould), Cho has shown a strong off the ball ability, playing a crucial role in both Korean goals, and decent chemistry with Lee in particular. Though he does not yet have a goal to his name, you get the feeling that it’s only a matter of time with Cho.

Lee Sangmin and Jeong Taewook, the squad’s two giant centrebacks, have imposed themselves aerially and were key in the side’s defensive clinic against the Argentines (apart from that one, forgivable goal conceded). Though Jeong in particular has been my favourite, given his surprising deftness on the ball and positional intelligence when the fullback on his side is beaten. Not to mention the heading assist leading to Korea’s third goal against Guinea.

Between the sticks, Song Bumkeun has made all the saves he’s had to make and with poise – a personal disappointment of mine is that somewhere along the way Han Chanhee, squad captain, was scratched from Shin’s starting plans – I expect that the Jeonnam playmaker will get a chance against England after Korea’s inability to really string together a few decent connections in midfield in both of their first two games (what I was talking about above).

3. With Korea already in the knockout stages, is it likely that Shin Tae-yong will take this opportunity to utilise the depth of his squad?

Yes. Shin Taeyong has said that Lee Seungwoo and Paik Seungho will be rested, among others. He is promising to show “fresh faces and brand new tactics” against England’s 4-4-2, claiming that “though they are physical and highly skilled, they are fatigued after two games and we will use this to our advantage by rotating.”

Though Shin will rotate, he is obviously still keeping expectations high, as any boss would on a team with this kind of momentum and so little to lose, promising that “we will play to win the game and win the group”.

I really, honestly don’t know much at all about the English, except that they caught Argentina on the break often and scored that hilariously awful own goal against Guinea which cost them a point. I want to see a Korean side that controls the tempo of play and a solid performance in particular from the midfield. If we able to do this I wouldn’t rule the team out for three points. Why not? They’re on a roll.

1-0 Korea

Scott answers Tim’s questions on Engerland

1. England have been pegged as one of the favourites to win the U-20 World Cup, notably by Shin Taeyong himself. And yet after a convincing (was it?) 3-0 win over Argentina, they’ve only gone and drawn Guinea! What happened?!

I’m not quite sure why England were actually pegged as one of the favourites to win the tournament as they have disappointed at this level of competition for decades. Infact, the win against Argentina was the first for an England U-20 team in 20 years, breaking a 17 match winless streak in the competition. Although they possess a talented squad, they are far from polished and the draw against Guinea should be England’s wake-up call.

Whereas the Argentina game hinted that there may be big things to come from this team, the Guinea game revealed the true side of England national teams throughout the age groups. England were slow and sluggish, and lacked ideas and creativity. The midfield pairing of Lewis Cook and Ainsley Maitland-Niles did little to influence or dictate play and towards the end of the game, it appeared as though Guinea would be the team who would snatch an unlikely winner.

It looks as though England will qualify from this group, but there is still a major question mark as to whether they can make it to the latter stages of the tournament.

2. Regardless, England are probably through to the Round of 16. Will there be squad rotation in the works?

Paul Simpson, England’s manager, actually rotated heavily for the Guinea gaming, and his gamble didn’t quite pay off. So for this game, I would expect the big hitters of Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Josh Onomah to come back into the starting line-up. However, with both full-backs playing every minute so far, there is an argument for the manager to rotate his defence, which very much appears to be England’s weak point.

3. The common saying about the English team is that “these are the EPL players of the future”. Who in particular does Korea have to watch?

There are a number of interesting prospects in the England squad, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman, Josh Onomah, Sheyi Ojo, and Lewis Cook have all had playing time in the Premier League this season. But of those talents, three standout and could have big futures in the game; Adam Armstrong, Josh Onomah and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Armstrong, a small and stocky, number 9 has already proved that he is a deadly finisher in his fledgling career, having already scored 26 league goals during loan spells with Barnsley FC and Coventry City in the English lower leagues. The Newcastle native has returned to his parent club and is expected to be a part of their squad for the upcoming Premier League season. With pace to rival that of an Olympic 100 meter sprinter, this could be Armstrong’s breakout year and big things are expected of the youngster.

In contrast, Josh Onomah has already had his breakout year after having been part of the Tottenham Hotspur first team for much of the year. The strong, athletic midfielder can play on either wing or is equally as comfortable as a central midfielder. He was instrumental in England’s victory against Argentina and his lung bursting runs through the centre of the pitch carved open the Argentina defence on more than one occasion. If England are to progress in this tournament then his performances will be vital to their success.

Finally, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is having a fine beginning to 2017. After forcing his way into the Everton first team in early March, he has established himself as a first team player and is highly rated by Everton boss Ronald Koeman. A tall and rapid wide midfielder, Calvert-Lewin has quick feet and skills to match any winger in youth football. He has been ear marked by the FA as one player who may progress in the England U-21 setup after this tournament and he may be a player who will feature for the men’s national team over the coming year.

4. As compared to Argentina, what kind of threat do the English pose?

As they demonstrated against Argentina, England are very much a counter-attacking unit. During the Argentina game, there were occasions when they were penned back in their own half for long periods. However, England can break to devastating effect and have enough talent in the wide areas to trouble even the most dominant teams.

They have a strong and muscular backline, which makes scoring from crosses and direct runs difficult for the opposition. However, the defence is rather slow and positionally naive, so any quick and inventive movement could trouble them. If Korea are able to lure England out of their defensive deep backline, then they could have some joy running behind them.

5. Score prediction?

With both teams being counter-attack minded, this game could be somewhat of a stalemate. There is talk of Shin Tae-yong resting some of his star players, and this would play into England’s hands. But with a vociferous home support in Suwon, I expect the 2nd string Korean players to rise to the occasion. Both teams would settle for a point a piece, and I think that is where my prediction lies.

K League Classic

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Gyeongnam

9

2

Gangwon

9

3

Pohang Steelers

7

4

Jeonbuk Motors

6

5

Suwon Bluewings

4

6

Incheon United

4

7

Jeju United

4

8

Jeonnam Dragons

3

9

Sangju Sangmu

3

10

Seoul

1

11

Daegu

1

12

Ulsan

0

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

March 18, 2018

Suwon Bluewings

1 - 1

Pohang Steelers

Ulsan

0 - 1

Jeju United

Jeonbuk Motors

2 - 1

Seoul

March 17, 2018

Jeonnam Dragons

1 - 3

Gyeongnam

Gangwon

2 - 1

Sangju Sangmu

Incheon United

0 - 0

Daegu

English Premier League

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Manchester City

81

2

Manchester United

65

3

Liverpool

63

4

Tottenham Hotspur

61

5

Chelsea

56

6

Arsenal

48

7

Burnley

43

8

Leicester City

40

9

Everton

40

10

AFC Bournemouth

36

11

Watford

36

12

Brighton & Hov…

34

13

Newcastle United

32

14

Swansea City

31

15

Huddersfield Town

31

16

Crystal Palace

30

17

West Ham United

30

18

Southampton

28

19

Stoke City

27

20

West Bromwich Albion

20

Hwang Heechan

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Red Bull Salzburg

62

Bundesliga

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Bayern München

66

2

Schalke 04

49

3

Borussia Dortmund

48

4

Eintracht Frankfurt

45

5

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

44

6

RB Leipzig

43

7

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

39

8

Stuttgart

37

9

Borussia Mönchengladbach

36

10

Augsburg 1907

35

11

Hertha BSC

35

12

Werder Bremen

33

13

Hannover 96

32

14

SC Freiburg

30

15

Wolfsburg

25

16

1. FSV Mainz 05

25

17

1. FC Köln

20

18

Hamburger SV

18

Kwon Changhoon

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

10

Dijon

38

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The Tavern of the Taeguk Warriors is an online community of Korean football/soccer supporters. We bring you news, analysis and opinion in English about Korean players abroad, youth players and the K League.